Behavioral Science In Business

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE IN BUSINESS: A syllabus for graduate courses in Industrial and Organizational Psychology Lawrence Zeitlin, Professor of Indistrial Psychology, Graduate Center, CUNY

1. THE EVOLUTION OF WORK IN THE WESTERN WORLD: Pre-industrial technology: The craft method of production was used in Europe prior to 1600 and is still in use in many agrarian and underdeveloped countries. It is characterized by: intensive use of labor, unit production, little division of function, and is demand driven. There is high variability in products and procedures which are dependent on the craftsman's skills. Craft based production methods - a small number of workers perform all tasks required to convert materials to a finished form. Little standardization of output. Products are produced on an individual or small batch basis, largely to customer order. Natural or slightly modified materials are used. There is little use of power in the production process. Training of craftsmen is by apprenticeship. Young people apprentice themselves to master craftsmen, exchanging their services for a period of years to learn the trade. Low productivity ratio - Low productivity per worker was tolerable because of low labor cost. The agricultural productivity ratio, the total population divided by the number of persons involved in food and raw matrials extraction, in pre-industrial societies was approximately 2:1. The majority of the population was rural. Fewer than 10% lived in urban areas. Control of product quality - Because products were not standardized, the craftsman assured that each of his products would function as required by making adjustments to the product before delivering it to the buyer. Individual modification or customization was the rule and the process tolerated a wide range of individual difference in design and production techniques. Indeed, it is just this product variation that make crafted items collectibles today. Control of the product implies that all variances in production are corrected at once by a final adjustment. Example: if a gunsmith makes a rifle that shoots a little to the left, he bends the barrel a bit to the right until it shoots straight. The decline of the craft system of production: The Black Death - The craft system started its long, slow decline following the outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe in 1347. By the time the "Black Death" had run its course, nearly 50% of the population of Europe had died, a total of over 25 million. In some areas the death toll reached 70%. As a result of the plague, the Church lost much of its influence (since priests died just like sinners), intellectualism flourished, social unrest increased, and there were widespread labor shortages. Wages tripled within three years and enterprises which depended upon a ready supply of cheap labor suffered. The serf system of agriculture disappeared within a century as farms were consolidated and serfs became "freemen". The wealth of the dead was inherited by the living and the demand for goods increased. The Proto-industrial factory: Power applied to production - The low productivity of the craft system was unable to supply the demand for goods and the emerging merchant class began to seek other forms of manufacture. The first approach was to reduce the labor intensiveness of craftwork by the judicious application of power to the productive 1

process. Water wheels and windmills had been known since ancient times but their use was uneconomical given a large and cheap labor supply. Powered workshops became more common toward the end of the 16th century. Water wheels up to 30 ft. tall were used by mills in Germany in 1500. In order to use the power of such a large wheel, a number of workers had to be gathered in the same location. Further, only a limited number of streams could provide sufficient water flow on a reliable basis. Start of specialization - Craft work was disassembled into those portions which could conveniently make use of power in the production process and those which could not. Garment making, for example, divided into fabric making, which could use power in the spinning and weaving process, and the tailoring of clothing, largely a manual craft. Conditions necessary for the development of the factory system were: 1. Capital - ready access to capital was required for investment in facilities and machines. 2. Markets - higher productivity required more efficient distribution and ready access to markets, either domestic or foreign. 3. Raw materials - ample supplies of raw materials necessary for conversion. Early industial countries sought colonies both for their materials and as markets for products. 4. Manpower - the factory system required concentrated manpower available only in cities. Protofactories were established in centers of population with good access to transportation and attracted more workers from the surrounding farmland by providing stable employment. The factory system was a major contributor to the urbanization of society. Early factory systems - Early factories were characterized by: 1. Use of indivisible natural power sources, generally waterwheels. 2. Location near streams or rivers for both power and transport. 3. Collection of workers under one roof to make use of machines. 4. Simple, unsophisticated transformation of natural materials. (Flax to linen, wheat to flour, ore to iron) The 18th century factory - About the time of the American Revolution, the factory concept had evolved to incorporate the steam engine and more sophisticated production technology. Craftwork was fragmented into still smaller units which could be adequately performed on the machines of the time. The labor component was high but the skill level was reduced to the point that the apprenticeship system was no longer necessary. Standardized parts concept - The use of interchangeable parts in manufactured goods originated in France in the late 1700's. It was observed by Thomas Jefferson while he was Ambassador to France and was recommended for use in America. The basic concept consists of making all related parts of a series of manufactured goods compatible, i.e. all gun barrels of a given series of rifles, will fit all gun stocks of the same series. In both the craft system and in the early factory system, each barrel was fitted to its gun stock individually, by skilled workers. If the stock broke in the field, a new one would have to be made to fit the specific barrel. In France, such standardization was achieved by training highly skilled workers to fit largely handmade parts to a standard pattern. The "American system" - In 1810, Eli Whitney won the Springfield Arsenal contract for 10,000 rifles by demonstrating and agreeing to supply weapons with fully interchangeable parts. Any part selected at random would fit any rifle. In the U.S., a 2

country with labor shortages and a weak craft tradition, standardization was achieved through the design of specialized tools and jigs that enabled lower skilled workers to repetitively produce identical parts. This approach was soon called the "American System" of manufacture. Main theme of standardization - Every unit of production is identical. The tolerance for human and manufacturing errors is reduced to the point where the total accumulation of error of all parts of a product is lower than the maximum allowable error of the completed product. Minimization of manufacturing errors requires total control of the manufacturing process. Because the final product is assembled of many components, acceptable quality is achieved by: 1. Standardization of production processes for each component part. 2. High manufacturing precision requiring the use of jigs, fixtures and measuring devices to insure each part is within error limits. 3. Reduction of human variability in the production process by the specialization of work, selection of personnel minimize differences, training in standardized procedures, and close supervision to insure low error performance. Modern factory systems - The convergence of the two trends in manufacture, application of power to the production process and the standardized parts concept, resulted in the modern factory system. The system is highly efficient in multiplying human labor by the use of power and minimizing handwork by the use of interchangeable parts. It provides high quality, mass produced products at a reasonable cost. Characteristics of the modern factory system: 1. Capital and power intensive. 2. Aimed at mass or series production. 3. Involves great division of function. 4. Production driven. 5. Economic production quantities require increasing demand. 6. Reduction of production variability through standardization of production. 7. Quality through control of process. Consequences of the factory system - Most of the concerns of industrial organizations arise from the technology of the 19th century factory system. The power sources of the time were large and indivisible. It is not practical to use individual steam engines or water wheels at each machine. For greatest efficiency, hundreds of workers had to be gathered under one roof to use the output of a large stationary steam engine. The factory system required the coordination of the efforts of large numbers of workers performing standardized tasks while keeping individual variation as small as possible. In essence, the worker became an adjunct to a machine, a cog in the production process. Efficiencies of production permitted lowering prices, and, in the 20th. century, decreasing the length of the work day. Both factors served to increase demand and hastened the conversion to the factory system. Evolution of the factory system - The factory system is still evolving to accommodate changes in production technology, legislation, and the physical and social environment. These changes include: Divisibility of power sources - the use of small electric motors and gasoline engines have permitted power sources to be attached directly to machines located in remote 3

areas. There is no longer a mechanical need to house large numbers of workers in the same area. Workers may be placed where needed to enhance work flow or distribution. This distribution of workers makes direct supervision more difficult. Ease of communication - telephone and data communications systems permit information to be transmitted between units of an organization with ease. Face to face contact, although desirable, is no longer necessary for business. Ease of communication decreases the number of levels through which information and directives must pass, reducing the number of personnel whose primary function was transfer of information. Ease of transportation - personnel and goods can be moved worldwide in a matter of hours. Combined with ease of communication, the large scale integrated factory, as a physical entity, is no longer necessary. This has implications on the organization of business, specialization, job design, and facilitates internationalization of manufacture. Mechanization and automation - the availability of cheap computing and control technology (electronic, mechanical, etc.) has made possible the automation of many repetitive job functions. Tasks formerly performed by low skilled workers are now performed by machine. Example: the mechanized cotton picker, introduced early this century, did the work of 50 field hands. It could pick 1000 pounds an hour while a man picked 20 - resulting in a cost of $5.26 a bale picking cotton by machine as against $39.14 by hand. As worker replacement technology becomes more affordable and sophisticated, automation will extend higher up the work hierarchy. Current levels of automation have had dramatic effects on employment, advancement in organizations, and the nature and distribution of skills required. Product sophistication - because of their size or complexity, many manufactured products can no longer be made by human labor. Examples: microchip electronics, drugs. Automation is a manufacturing necessity rather than an economic convenience. Changes in manufacturing technology required by product design has had significant impact on the number and distribution of persons employed. Increased worker expectations - have changed with regard to the role that work fills in life. In the more affluent countries, quality of working life (QWL) has become an important consideration. With the internationalization of business, cultural differences in worker values and expectations have a considerable influence on personnel management decisions. Legislative environment - legal constraints have become a significant influence on business. Employment policy, selection, training, occupational safety, pollution, manufacturing processes, distribution practices, pricing, etc. are subject to legal control or restriction. Management freedom of action has become limited. Competition - there is enough productive capacity to supply any reasonable level of demand in the developed countries. Except in selected areas, the manufacturing process is no longer production limited. Demand must be increased by innovation, pricing, utility increases, etc. and business success cannot be achieved merely by making the production process more efficient. Short product life cycles - forced innovation creates short product life cycles, requiring rapid task reassignment and frequent technology changes. The estimated half life of an industrial skill has dropped from 30 years in 1800 to 10 years in 1900 to about 3 years today, with obvious implications for frequent retraining, career development, 4

education, personnel selection. Financial considerations - the primacy of finance as a forcing factor in business decisions has increased in recent years. Conglomeration, takeovers, leveraged buy-outs, tax law changes etc. have made production and/or personnel considerations irrelevant in many cases. Internationalization of business - Business has become truly international with similar products being made in a number of countries and organizations functioning worldwide. Local culture and politics play an important role in decisions. Success of the factory system -The factory system survives because it is the most efficient method of multiplying human production of goods and services yet devised. In the United States, only 13% of the population provides all the raw materials and manufactured goods required by the remainder of the population. Food production requires 2% of the working population, an agricultural productivity ratio of 50:1. Indeed, the productivity of the factory system is so high that underemployment is a chronic problem of many developed countries, requiring socially approved means to increase consumption (advertizing, built in obsolescence, fashion); decrease the potential labor force (shortened work hours, lengthened vacations, elimination of child labor, manditory educational requirements, social exclusion of women, etc.); and underutilize productive capacity (govt. imposition of environmental and safety considerations, restriction of competitive activities, etc.). The factory as a model - Because of the success of the factory system, its basic tenets, specialization of job function and the use of technology to multiply human labor, spread to other areas of endeavor, including such diverse fields as agriculture, education and medicine. The factory system can be considered a model for the workplace in the Western world. Business offices are "paperwork" factories; schools, "educational" factories; hospitals, "patient care" factories, etc. Work in craft based production - Considered in the light of 20th century organizational psychology, craft systems met many of current criteria for job satisfaction. 1. The work itself was mentally challenging providing satisfaction from successful task completion. 2. The work permitted individual variation and freedom of expression. 3. Craftsmen could work at their own pace, financial rewards largely determined by individual effort. 4. Success in craft provided a measure of self esteem. 5. Associations of craftsmen (in some countries) provided a degree of social and economic support which modern labor unions have only begun to approximate. Work in the factory system - From the viewpoint of the worker, factory productive efficiency has been gained by a sacrifice in human values.The factory system implies: 1. Restricted behavior (rules, standardized procedures) approximating forced regression to a childlike form of behavior. 5

2. Restricted opportunity for individual expression. Reduction of individual variability requires performance within narrow range of tolerance. 3. Boredom caused by machine paced work of unvarying nature. 4. Substantial dissociation of reward from effort. 5. Little sense of accomplishment or whole task completion. 6. Success achieved by rising in hierarchy, since skill improvements are limited by job structure. 7. Social relationships not facilitated by work activity. I/O Psychology and the factory system - Many of the efforts of psychologists have been directed to facilitating worker adjustment to the demands of a factory system shaped by 19th century technology. Most textbooks published prior to 1990 reflect these concerns. 1. Jobs are studied through work analysis procedures to design optimum procedures which minimize human variation. 2. Selection techniques are refined so workers can be chosen who provide maximum output with minimum supervision. 3. Human motivation is studied to facilitate the control of behavior or to provide job satisfaction in an inherently frustrating environment. 4. Leadership is studied to specify individuals who can control workers in diverse situations. 5. Organizations are designed to maximize communication and control. 6. Workers are evaluated to see if they meet the criteria imposed by the system. 7. Equipment and work procedures are engineered to facilitate productivity with minimum involvement of human capabilities. 8. Finally clinical psychologists in the industrial setting, deal with workers unable to make an adjustment to job stress. 2. PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY - LOGIC AND RATIONALE Personnel Psychology uses the techniques of the behavioral sciences to staff an organization with trained, qualified workers. Benefits to the organization are based on the recognition that, for most jobs, the variation in individual work related performance is likely to be greater than the range in compensation, thus it is possible to increase productivity or work quality without incurring corresponding increases in cost. Since labor costs are the dominant cost of doing business in all but a few endeavors, suitably staffing an organization may be the single most beneficial step taken by management in increasing profitability or organizational effectiveness. This situation is most likely to occur where worker output can vary (sales, management, non-production line factory work, skilled labor, professions, etc.) but employment costs (benefits, overhead, investment, etc.) are relatively fixed.

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Benefits to the individual worker are based on the assumption that the quality of both personal and work life are likely to be better if the physical, intellectual and emotional demands of work are suited to the capabilities and aspirations of the worker. Staffing the personnel system is a step by step process of identifying organizational needs for personnel in specific jobs, analyzing characteristics of those jobs that lend themselves to the development of predictors, specification of charactistics of suitable job applicants, assessment of job relevant characteristics of candidates, selection of candidates who meet criteria and subsequent training of successful candidates (where necessary) in organizationally specific tasks. Performance differences between workers are caused by the interaction of three sets of variables: 1. Individual variables - dependent on worker: a. Intrinsic characteristics - physical abilities, intelligence, personality, age, sex. b. Background - specific training, prior work experience, education. c. Motivation - willingness to perform for job relevant incentives. 2. Situational variables - dependent on pecific work situation: a. Physical work conditions environment, lighting, temperature, hours, shift work. b. Equipment - age, speed, compatibility with worker skills, automaticity, etc. c. Procedures - specific work procedures, scope of assignment, suitability for equipment, etc. 3. Organizational and social variables - dependent on organization and society: a. Supervisory style - authoritarian to participative, span of control, worker or task oriented. b. Incentives - form of "implicit" bargain; economic, social, status incentives. c. Social environment - company "culture", unionization, work grouping. d. Culture - work values, acceptance of authority, individual vs. group, work vs. family, etc. Measurement criteria. Quantification of performance differences is desirable to match individual workers with jobs requiring various patterns of skills and personal attributes. Measurement requires comparison of performance with a standard or criterion. Several categories of job related behavior are used as criteria. These include: 1. Performance criteria - where job related behavior can be directly measured. (sales, units produced, speed of performance, quality of output, etc.). 2. Cost criteria - these criteria refer to the expense incurred in providing a worker at a given position and are used when performance can not be directly measured. They include: 7

a. Tenure - turnover, time in grade, training and replacement cost, etc. b. Attendance - absences, lateness, cost of substitutes, etc. c. Accidents and health costs - number and cost of accidents, illnesses, insurance. d. Disciplinary costs - altercations, fights, worker-mgt. conflict, grievances. 3. Physiological criteria - used in situations where considerable work stress occurs such as police, air traffic control, emergency medical, etc. Include: stress level, heart rate, anxiety tests. 4. Status criteria - prior work related accomplishments such as degrees, promotions, salary, "credentials", etc. 5. Subjective criteria - ratings of performance and other attributes by knowledgeable persons. Qualification of criteria. While almost anything can be used as a standard against which to measure performance, useful (and legal) criteria share three characteristics. These are: 1. Relevance. The criterion must be relevant to the particular job for which a potential worker is being evaluated. Thus a measure of typing skill is suitable for a position as typist. Beauty, sex, and age are not relevant criteria. 2. Freedom from contamination. Differences in measured performance must be due only to variation in the attribute being evaluated. If typing speed is used as a criterion of typing performance, differences in test score should be due only to the skill of the typist, not to differences in typewriters, lighting levels, or complexity of test materials. 3. Reliability. The criterion should be stable. Yardsticks should not be made of rubber. Identical performance on successive administrations should result in (nearly) identical scores. Identification of Predictors - A rational approach to personnel selection involves the identification of predictors, measures of individual difference of job candidates, which correlate highly with eventual performance on the job. Predictors may be any legal, job relevant measure of individual difference, including test scores, recommendations, work samples, academic records, and job histories. Much of the effort in Personnel Psychology is devoted to the identification of predictors which provide an early, reliable, low cost estimate of job performance prior to hiring. 3. THE DIVISION OF WORK IN ORGANIZATIONS Definitions: Any action performed by a worker in the course of his/her work is a task. All of the tasks performed by a single worker define the worker's position. There are as many positions in an organization as there are workers. All similar positions constitute a job, which is usually described by a single job title. A group of related jobs progressing from entry level through senior level and occupied by individuals during the course of their employment is a career.

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Division of work into JOBS - An individual entrepreneur performs all of the tasks necessary to carry out the functions of a business. As the business grows and others are hired, the work must be divided into specific jobs. Several approaches to job design are used. Real organizations employ a mix of strategies. Job design by TOP DOWN satisfaction - Bases work allocation on the premise that organizations are run to suit the needs of their dominant members. Top members keep work functions which give them maximum satisfaction, pass down less satisfying tasks to lower members. The result is that lowest members have the least satisfying jobs. This approach is usually followed during the formative years of most organizations when activities overlap and work is ill defined, and at the upper levels of mature organizations. Job design by TASK SPECIALIZATION - Work is structured by grouping similar tasks and functions into units which can be performed by an individual during the course of a working day. Tasks may be grouped by skill level, physical capability, training, intelligence, sex, social class, etc. It is the predominant method used for middle and lower levels of mature organizations. Job specialization facilitates worker training and mobility. Since the functions to be performed in organizations in the same business sector are similar, specialization permits off the job training and personnel transfer between like areas of specialty. Efficiency as a criterion of job design - Modern industrial practice uses efficiency as the primary criterion of job design. Productivity or man hours of input for each unit of output is used as the yardstick. There are several objections to using efficiency (productivity) as the sole job design adequacy criterion. These include: 1. Productivity is a contaminated criterion - it may well depend as much on capital investment per position or on work procedures as on worker performance. 2. Workers protest dehumanizing job designs passively by lowering output or actively by labor unrest or sabotage. Turnover is higher. Dissatisfied workers increase overall costs to the organization, either to cope with lower productivity or to increase hiring and replacement costs. Job satisfaction criterion of job design -The HUMAN RELATIONS movement offered job satisfaction as an alternate criterion, operating under the assumption that satisfaction correlates with productivity. Unfortunately research has failed to demonstrate a significant correlation between the two, other than in the reduction of turnover. Combined efficiency-satisfaction criteria - The optimal job design would permit employees to gain important personal satisfactions in direct proportion to the degree of productive, efficient work. (This is, in effect, a return to the craftwork approach.) Most modern theorists have adopted this conjoint criterion. The consensus of current theory is that a job must be structured to: 1. Allow a worker to feel personally responsible for a meaningful portion of his/her work. 2. Provide outcomes which are intrinsically meaningful or otherwise experienced as worthwhile to the individual. 3. Provide feedback about what is accomplished. 4. JOB ANALYSIS AND THE JOB DESCRIPTION 9

Job analysis is the collective name for the techniques by which existing jobs are studied to derive a job description. Techniques include: 1. Observation techniques - ranging from unstructured observation, through checklist aided observation, to formalized time and motion analysis. Observation is essentially looking at work being performed. 2. Interrogation techniques - ranging from unstructured interviews, through structured interview, to position analysis questionnaires. Interrogation involves asking how the job is performed. 3. Documentation techniques - study of old job descriptions, archival material, personnel records, equipment manuals, Dictionary of Occupational Titles, job descriptions of other companies, etc. Documentation techniques involve reading information about the job. Job descriptions are documents that contain information about the job sufficient to specify the requirements for personnel to fill that job. The most important types of information are tasks, duties, skills, knowledge and abilities. Job descriptions are used for organizational decision making, personnel actions including hiring and promotion, wage and salary determination, equipment and work design, and training. Most job descriptions include: 1. The job title and location within the organizational hierarchal structure, including relationships to other jobs. 2. An exact description of the work. Scope of duties and responsibilities. Explicit and implicit requirements. 3. Specific knowledge, skills, and experience required of the job holder. 4. Personal characteristics required (initiative, alertness, perceptual abilities, physical abilities, etc.) 5. Standards of productivity and performance required. Methods of evaluation. 6. Working conditions, including, equipment, techniques, environment, etc. 7. How the position is attained, including selection and training procedures, prior job requirements, etc. 5. EMPLOYMENT AND THE LAW Assumptions: The U.S. government has always operated under two, often conflicting, philosophies in the regulation of employment. The first of these, equality under the law, attempts to assure equal opportunity for all citizens in hiring, promotion and pay. Examples are: civil rights and fair employment laws, equal pay laws. The second, preferential treatment, attempts to satisfy social objectives by treating selected groups differentially. Examples are: veteran's priorities in employment and education, affirmative action programs. Conflict occurs when preferential treatment and employment equality concerns converge in a personnel action. The issue is generally resolved in the courts. Example: U. Calif. Regents vs. Bakke (1978) Federal Legislation: Laws and regulations influencing employment are: 1. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) - race, color, religion, sex and national origin illegal as hiring criteria. 2. The Equal Employment Act of 1972 - forms Equal Employment Opportunities 10

Comm. (EEOC) to enforce Title VII. 3. Equal Pay Act of 1963 - equal pay for equal work (same job title and responsibilities). 4. Age Discrimination Act of 1967 - increases scope of Title VII to cover age. Federal Executive Orders: Executive agencies which influence employment: 1. Office of Federal Contract Compliance, 1965 (OFCCP) - forbids discrimination on Federal contracts. 2. Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) - reviews practices of Gvt. agencies concerning discrimination. 3. U.S. Office of Personnel Management - issues Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection. State and Local Agencies: State and Local legislation and agencies can impose stricter rules that the U.S. Govt. Examples: Sexual preference is not considered under Federal law but cannot be used as a criterion for employment in NYS. Similarly HIV positive status is considered a handicap, not a disease, in NYS and is protected in hiring. Adverse impact: Employment discrimination is assumed if an employer has a hiring rate less than 80% of a group's representation in the potential work force. Example: if only 20% Blacks are hired for a company located in Harlem, unfair discrimination is indicated. Several groups are specifically "protected" under current regulations. These are: African-American, Native American, Hispanic, Native Alaskan, Native Pacific Islander. The remedy for discrimination is usually fines or penalties, mandated hiring of impacted worker(s), and preferential hiring of the impacted group to increase its representation to the 80% or higher level. Affirmative action: Preferential treatment in hiring or selection is given to protected classes to remove the past effects of adverse impact. This may take the form of hiring quotas, setting aside "minority" places, dual hiring procedures, bonus scores on tests. etc. How much preference given and how long programs should last are questions yet unanswered. Selection and discrimination: Selection always involves discrimination. Federal and State courts have held that employers have the right to use selection criteria which are job relevant. These include work experience, education, skills related to the work, and physical characteristics related to the work. It is illegal to use selection criteria prohibited by law (age, sex, race, religion, etc.) or those of a personal nature (marital state, economics, military discharge, arrest record, etc.) which are not job related. There are exceptions (age of airplane pilot, police record of bank teller, etc.) but they are not common and must be supported by evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right of the employer to use job relevant selection methods in Griggs vs. Duke Power Co. (1971) and Albermarle Paper vs. Moody (1975). NYS courts have held that employees have a property interest in jobs, hence employers must show cause before firing. 6. PERSONNEL RATING SYSTEMS Personnel ratings: Ratings are (subjective) assessments of job relevant characteristics made for ranking individuals prior to taking some personnel action. They are judgments of how much of a particular characteristic or trait the person being rated possesses. To be effective, ratings must be reliable and valid. Reliability implies that the rating must be repeatable. Successive ratings of the same individual should give similar scores. 11

Independent ratings of a given individual by several raters should also agree. Validity implies that the ratings reflect the "true" variable being rated. The rating and an independent assessment of the actual job relevant characteristic or performance should agree. Rating systems: Several types of rating systems are used to facilitate making judgments and increase reliability. These include: 1. Rating scales - require assessment of characteristic or trait on a numerical or multiple step scale. Example: female beauty on a 10 point scale; ice skating skill on a 6 point scale, etc. Best when there are accepted standards. 2. Personnel comparison systems - one individual is compared with another individual or group of individuals. a. Rank order - group of individuals are ranked in terms of rated trait or characteristic. This is a good, quick system for groups of 10 or fewer, but rankings are reliable only for first and last few ratees. b. Paired comparison - each individual is compared with one other, the best is selected, the bests of adjacent pairs are compared, and so on. In this way a ranking can be derived. The paired comparison approach is extremely reliable but is very time consuming for large numbers of personnel since the number of comparisons grows exponentially. Comparisons = N(N-1)/2. i.e. 45 comparisons for 10 ratees, 190 comparisons for 20 ratees. c. Forced distribution - ratees are allocated into fixed groups according to a predetermined system. In college this is called "grading on a curve". In a large class, for example, 10% are given a grade of A, 20% are given B, 40% get C, 20% receive D, and 10% get F. Judgments are grouped in broad categories. 3. Critical incident techniques - some behaviors are so critical to job performance (coolness under stress, excessive drinking, etc.) that the presence or absence of the behavior is all that is necessary to determine acceptability or unacceptability. A rating is based on the observation of the presence or absence of the critical behavior. 4. Behavioral checklists and scales - for well studied jobs, checklists of relevant behaviors can be developed which ask the rater to make judgments only of specific ratee actions. The checklist technique increases reliability because it merely asks the rater how much of a behavior is present, removing from the rater the requirement to judge if a behavior is job relevant. Student ratings of instructor performance, as used at CUNY, are behavioral checklists. The overall rating is derived from the numerical score given on the various items in the checklist.

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Distortion and error in ratings: All personnel judgments are subject to error resulting from the rater's inability to be perfectly objective. The halo effect results from a rater's tendency to be overly influenced by one characteristic of a ratee, and letting the judgment on that characteristic sway the judgment on all other characteristics. Example: a pretty candidate for a job as secretary, is judged less critically on job relevant characteristics than less pretty candidates. Stereotyping is exhibited when the rater lets one characteristic of an entire group influence judgments of job relevant behaviors of any member of that group. Example: if a rater feels that women (as a group) make poor executives, then any female candidate for an executive position will be rated poorer than a man of equal qualifications. Stereotyping is illegal if the judgment is based on any prohibited criterion, but pervasive nevertheless. The Contrast effect is the tendency of the rater to compare each individual with the one who came before. If the first candidate is good, the present candidate will seem poorer by comparison, and viceversa. Constant error is the tendency of the rater to concentrate ratings on one end or the other of a scale, i.e. lenient or strict. Range restriction is the tendency to use only the central part of a scale, excluding high or low ratings. Both of these numerical errors can be nullified by normalizing rater's scores. Control of rater bias is best handled by careful construction of rating scales and training of raters. 7. PERSONNEL TESTS Personnel tests - A test is a sample of behavior, observed under controlled conditions, used to predict future behavior. The use of tests in personnel selection assumes behavioral constancy; that is, that behavior remains relatively constant over time. In personnel work, tests are used to measure psychomotor abilities (physical and perceptual characteristics), job specific abilities (skills such as driving, typing, etc.), cognitive abilities (mental skills and intelligence), personality, and interests (vocational preferences). Test reliability - reliability is measured by the correlation of one test score with a second test score. Several types are: 1. Stability: same group, different times. Example: typing test score today, typing test score tomorrow, same person. 2. Equivalence: different groups (same general population), same time. Example: test score, two Baruch psych. classes. 3. Internal consistency: all parts of the test should be consistent. Example: first half should correlate with second half. Test validity - test scores should correlate with independent determinations of the characteristic to be measured. Several types are: 1. Content validity: measures agreed upon representative sample of behavior which 13

defines content area. Experts define sample of job behavior. Examples: skills measured in driving test; job sample test; actor's audition. 2. Construct validity: attributes which underlie desired behavior. Examples: intelligence and SAT scores underlie college success; physical strength and endurance underlie success as a sanitation worker. 3. Criterion related validity: test scores are correlated with the actual performance of workers on the job.Criterion related validations of selection tests hold up best in court tests. a. Predictive validity - an applicant sample is tested, hired without reference to the test, test scores correlated with job performance of the same sample at a later date. b. Concurrent validity - presently employed sample tested, test scores correlated with present job ratings. Relationship of reliability and validity- A test can never have a higher validity than its reliability since it can never have a higher correlation with any other measure than with itself! Tests with validities lower than 0.5 have low predictive efficiency and should be combined with other measures in a selection battery. Tests with validities lower than 0.2 probably should not be used in personnel selection at all. Personal attributes measured - tests for the following attributes are listed in declining order of reliability and validity: 1. Physical characteristics, performance - size, speed, perceptual ability, strength. Examples: eye test, running speed. 2. Skills and job related performance - Examples: typing test, driving test. 3. Achievement test - measures skill learned after fixed period of exposure to content material. Example: school tests. 4. Aptitude test - uses aptitude test score in given area to predict future performance in same area. Example: use of school grades to predict college performance. Note achievement and aptitude tests are similar. The prediction is different. Example: SAT 5. Intelligence test - an intelligence test is a generalized aptitude test used to predict overall intellectual performance. 6. Interest test - a measure of vocational likes and dislikes, often used to predict satisfaction with a vocation. 7. Personality test - used to predict patterns of response to life situations. Since daily mood swings alter responses on personality tests, test reliability tends to below. This may be due to poor test design and/or to subject variability. 8. TYPES OF TESTS USED IN SELECTION Cognitive abilities - tests of cognitive abilities measure one or more of the following mental abilities: 14

1. Thinking flexibility and speed. 2. Fluency or variety of thinking. 3. Inductive reasoning. 4. Associative (rote) memory. 5. Memory span. 6. Number facility. 7. Perceptual speed. 8. Deductive reasoning. 9. Spatial orientation and visualization. 10. Verbal comprehension. 12. Visual memory. General validity of cognitive tests - Cognitive tests are best at predicting ability to learn and perform jobs requiring moderate to high levels of mental functioning. On average such tests have validity coefficients of 0.40 with learning criteria and validities of 0.30 with job proficiency criteria. Thus they are useful, but not sufficient, instruments for selection and should be combined with other measures in a test battery. The Differential Aptitude Test and the Otis Test of Mental Ability are group administered examples of cognitive tests. Reliable individually administered intelligence tests such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) are sometimes used in executive selection but are costly for general use. Mechanical ability tests - Mechanical ability tests take two forms. The first is a cognitive abilities test in which the test content is restricted to mechanical and physical science information. Such mechanical comprehension tests are useful for selecting personnel whose interests and knowledge lean toward things mechanical. The Bennett Test of Mechanical Comprehension is typical of this group. The second form of mechanical ability test requires the demonstration of actual skill in manipulation, assembly, or disassembly of standardized objects. It is a generalized work sample test. The validity of both types of test average 0.35 for learning mechanical skills and 0.20 for predicting job proficiency. Psychomotor and physical abilities tests - Psychomotor and physical abilities tests measure the following: 1. Reaction time 2. Movement speed and precision 3. Limb coordination and flexibility 4. Static and explosive strength 5. Manual dexterity and steadiness 6. Endurance and stamina 7. Balance The validity of physical and psychomotor tests is highest for simple tasks which utilize these abilities in a nearly "pure" form. These skills often comprise a portion of the underlying abilities hypothesized in construct validation approach to the development of selection tests. Typical tests are the Purdue Pegboard and the Stromberg Dexterity Test. Perceptual tests - Visual and auditory abilities are critical to many jobs. Tests in these areas are used both as absolute criteria and as performance predictors. Specific visual abilities tested include acuity, color discrimination, and depth perception. Auditory tests include monaural and binaural hearing loss and frequency range. Typical of this group 15

are the Snellen Visual Acuity Test and the Ortho-Rater Visual Test. Job specific tests - Work sample tests and job specific tests examine knowledge and abilities used on the job by requesting the applicant to perform a portion of the job under standardized conditions. Driving, typing, and lifeguard tests fall in this category. So too do qualification tests for pilot's licenses and in-basket tests for executives. Job specific tests have a relatively high validity but are limited to areas where job relevant behaviors can be easily sampled. Personality tests - Personality tests used in business are primarily questionnaires which ask the individual to identify the behavior most typical of his/her response in a given situation. Assuming that the respondent is not trying to deceive, the principle of behavioral consistency suggests that a similar behavioral pattern will be exhibited in the future. A variety of behavioral models have been proposed, but most personality tests attempt to predict dominance, aggression, compliance, social consideration, impulsiveness, persistence, etc. Typical group administered personality tests include the Edwards Personality Preference Schedule (EPPS) and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). The validity of personality tests is low for most jobs except those where social interaction is critical, i.e. salespersons. Clinical personality tests such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and projective tests such as the Rorschach Ink Blot and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) are used on occasion but have very low validity. The legality of non-job relevant questions on personality tests is currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Interest Inventories - Interest inventories request the person being tested to indicate the strength of interest or liking for job related activities, hobbies, recreations, situations, etc. Patterns of interest exhibited by successful job incumbents are then matched against the pattern elicited by the testee. The assumption is that individuals will like (and be satisfied with) jobs where their interest pattern matches that of successful persons already in the job. Interest tests are useful for predicting tenure and turnover. Since skill or ability is not measured, no prediction can be made of job success. Typical interest inventories are the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and the Kuder Preference Test. Faking of tests - Test faking is more likely in employment situations, where there is a strong motivation to get the job, than in clinical situations. Since every candidate tries to appear as good as possible, the effect of faking can be minimized by developing scoring norms specifically for the job situation, rather than using clinical or national test norms. Some tests include faking scores which identify typical response patterns of fakers. In a sense, the successful faker is demonstrating a good knowledge of the behavioral characteristics required for a job. If he/she can play the same role after employment, chances for success are good. If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made. 9. BIOGRAPHICAL DATA Biographical data - Biographical data (biodata) is personal, background, educational, and occupational information about candidates secured from application forms or Biographical Information Blanks (BIB). Additional sources of biodata are interviews, references, educational transcripts, police and military records, and credit checks. An extensive survey of the literature shows that biodata and tests are the two best predictors of job performance. Biographical data from whatever source are subject to the same legal restrictions as other selection criteria. The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection prohibit discrimination on grounds of race, color, religion, sex, age, 16

or national origin. While it may be legal to collect personal information, it is illegal to use this information for selection. Application forms and BIBs - The application form requests factual personnel data (name, telephone number, address), educational data (schools attended, graduation dates, courses taken, degrees), employment data (past employers, positions held, salary, duties), miscellaneous job related data (hobbies, languages, skills not shown elsewhere), and references (job references, personal references, academic references). The BIB may ask for similar data but usually requests additional detail. Both forms can be "scored" in a manner similar a test and items or groups of items can be validated as predictors using criterion validation techniques. If a group of responses, often called a dimension, correlates with job success, than that group can be used as a predictor. Dimensions of biodata information include: 1. Trade skills, determined by past jobs. 2. Family relationships. 3. Achievement motivation, job sequence. 4. Academic success, grades, awards. 5. Athletics, extracurricular activities. 6. Socioeconomic level, salary, income. 7. Personal and work related values. 8. Club and association membership. Accuracy - Biodata can be faked. Experts differ on how much outright lying occurs since, if the applicant is good at it, it never will be detected. Most applicants are truthful on easily verifiable information, such as last employer or schools attended; however, inaccuracies occur on items hard to verify. Salaries are often inflated, bonuses and extra compensation being included in base pay. Job titles are inflated as well. Janitors become "maintenance engineers". The hardest errors to detect are errors of omission. Jobs where the employee would not receive a favorable recommendation vanish from the work history. The same is true for periods of unemployment, jail terms, etc. A fair estimate is that 75% of all applications contain some factual errors. Verification of biodata - When possible, biodata is verified by reference checks, recommendations, and if feasible, credit checks. References, as a whole, have very little predictive validity. Negative references should be investigated thoroughly since few job applicants will give references unless they are confident of the recommendation. References primarily serve as a check on factual information in the biodata. 10. THE INTERVIEW Uses and abuses of the interview - Interviews are one of the least valid and most used techniques in personnel selection. Most job applicants are interviewed three times in the selection process; at initial screening, during evaluation, and before a final decision to hire is made. Judgments are made about specific aspects of the candidate personal and occupational history, about personal and social compatibility with superiors and coworkers, and about characteristics visible in the interview but illegal to determine by other means (race, sex, age, ethnicity, foreign accent). The interview is not a conversation - Both parties try to appear as desirable as possible while trying to elicit information from the other that the other does not want to reveal. The interviewer tries to ascertain the real "persona" of the candidate, the candidate's true 17

goals, and why the candidate left the last job. In turn the candidate tries to persuade the interviewer to reveal why the job is vacant, what the real advancement potential of a new employee is, the "climate" of the organization, and the true economic facts surrounding salary negotiations. Interview format and process - Interviews can be entirely unstructured: "Tell me about yourself." Semistructured: "Let's talk about what you learned on you past job." Structured: "Please answer the following questions . . . " The more structured the interview, the higher the interrater reliability. On the other hand, a highly structured interview reveals little that could not be learned at lower cost through a well designed application blank. The weighting given to information elicited in an interview is time dependent. Information presented early tends to be weighed more heavily and influence the perception of later information. It is best to present favorable information early. Typically, the interviewer judges a candidate based on the early information, perhaps during the first 5 or 10 minutes. Applicant variables - Age, sex, race, attractiveness affect favorableness of the interview outcome, although most interviewers base much of their rating on the perceived competence of the candidate. Verbal and communications skills are probably the dominating applicant variable in determining outcome. Situational variables - The most significant situational variable is the contrast effect. Applicants tend to be judges in comparison to the one who came before. If a good candidate preceded the current candidate, the current candidate is judged poorer in comparison and vice versa. Candidates seen early in the morning or very late in the day also tend to be judged poorer. There are reports of a "Monday -Friday" effect which works against candidates seen on those days. Interviewer variables - Many interviewers have stereotypes of "ideal" candidates that they use as their standard in judging actual candidates. If a real candidate possesses characteristics similar to that of the stereotype, he/she fares better. Interviewer set implies that an interviewer tends to have a disposition to evaluate all candidates with a similar bias, either seeking negative information, or seeking positive information. Training of interviewers - Training of interviewers can minimize errors in the rating of candidates; particularly the halo effect, contrast effects, and attitudinal bias. There is little evidence that training to reduce errors will influence final decisions about candidates. It is unreasonable to expect that short term training will change well established attitudes.

11. TRAINING IN BUSINESS Nature of learning - Learning implies a change in behavior that occurs as the result of repeated performances of a given act. After accounting for such factors as fatigue, maturation, tissue change, etc. the resulting changes in performance are held to be due to learning. Most learning in the business setting involves operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, the probability of occurrence of a given behavior is increased by following it with a "reward", a positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcements can be anything the person desires or the cessation of something the person dislikes. Primary reinforcements satisfy basic tissue needs, e.g. food, shelter, physical contact, sex, etc. Higher order reinforcements are anything the individual has learned to associate with primary reinforcers, e.g money, praise, shame, etc. Learning is considered an 18

intervening variable, that is a mathematical relationship describing the change in behavior due to a series of reinforced (learning) trials. Progress of learning - Generally most learning occurs during the earliest trials. Less and less is learned in succeeding trials or training sessions. After a long period of training it tales many hours of practice for marginal improvements in performance. In learning a sport, golf or tennis, for example, an individual can learn to play a passable game in a dozen or so sessions. To play well takes several years. To play at the professional level takes a lifetime of dedication. Individuals rarely show a smooth relationship between proficiency and trials. In learning a complex task, there occur periods when no apparent improvement occurs. These plateaus last until there is some reorganization of the individual's approach to the problem. The implication of the non-linear relationship between learning time and proficiency is that jobs and prodedures should be designed to require levels of skill obtainable early in the course of learning. (i.e. a 75% skill level may be obtainable in half the time of a 90% skill level.) Factors affecting the rate of learning: 1. Knowledge of results (or feedback) - the more timely and direct the knowledge, the faster the learning. 2. Massed vs. distributed practice distributed practice generally better for learning and retention of material. 3. Quickness of reinforcement - the more closely reinforcement is associated with desired act, the faster the learning. 4. Meaningfulness - generally, the more meaningful the material to the learner, the faster the learning. Personnel training - In business training is given in one or more of the following categories: Orientation training - information about general company policies, activities, and factors extrinsic to the job. Serves to socialize new employee within context of the company and to relieve initial anxieties. Task (or job) training - sometimes called skills training, serves to convey knowledge of job related skills. Task training also upgrades skills when new equipment or procedures are introduced. Attitude training - serves to influence employee attitudes with regard to company or task. Management development - upgrading of management skills, attitudes, etc. May combine skills, attitude, and human relations training. Location of training - where training takes place is largely determined by the number of people to be trained and the risks, both economic and physical, of inserting semi-trained personnel into the work flow. Training can take place: On the job (OJT) - training that occurs while the individual is performing job tasks. Training is usually provided by a co-worker or direct supervisor. It is efficient if small numbers are to be trained and the semi-trained worker does not pose and undue risk to himself or others. OJT has a negligible start-up cost but is costly if large numbers are to be trained because of the loss in productivity of the trainer and the low productivity of the trainee.

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Off the job - training which occurs in an off line situation, generally in a formalized or school setting. Designated trainers (teachers) train new workers using specialized training materials. May be used for all forms of training including management development. Off the job training has a high start-up cost but becomes efficient when large numbers are to be trained. The off the job training location may be outside the control of the organization (i.e. colleges). Vestibule training - is an archaic name for off line training done in a situation which simulates and gradually leads into on line work. It is usually employed when inserting a semi-trained worker into the work situation would entail an economic or practical risk by slowing down production or exposing other workers to danger. The "vestibule" mimics the work situation but work is performed at a slower pace in a more regulated manner. Vestibule training is related to simulation, with the difference that the vestibule trained worker is doing real work while simulation mimics work. Determination of training requirements - training requirements are determined by subtracting the measured capabilities of new personnel from the comprehensive listing of required knowledge, information, and skills for a specific position given in the job description. The difference, the required knowledge, information and skills, that the new worker does not possess, constitute the training requirement. Training methods - the following training methods are in common use: Lecture - high flexibility, relatively fixed cost, low feedback. Seminar (small lecture) - highest flexibility, high cost per person, good feedback. Best for groups <20. Audio-visual methods, TV - moderate flexibility, no feedback, good for complex material. Best for large groups. Simulation - best for learning equipment operating skills where cost or danger of real equipment is a factor. Participation (conference, role playing) - best where human relations skills are taught. Very costly. Case method - good where few general rules can be directly applied. Builds practical experience off the job. Games (computer simulation) - somewhat lifelike decision simulation with speeded time scale. Quick feedback. Programmed instruction - material divided into small units, self paced learning, usually mediated by computer. Best where exact material must be learned. Economical once material is prepared for presentation.

12. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Nature of motivation - Motivation is an internal force within an organism which impels it to action. It is generally regarded as an intervening variable, impossible to observe directly but inferred from an observation of the conditions antecedent and subsequent to behavior. In animals motivation is held to result from unsatisfied tissue needs (hunger, thirst, sex, etc.), the strength of the motivation being roughly proportional to the time of deprivation. In humans, living in civilized societies, motives resulting from tissue needs (primary needs) are generally satisfied by social institutions (the family, mates, etc.). Motives in humans are largely attributed to secondary or higher order needs, which are attached to primary needs in childhood by a process of informal classical and instrumental conditioning. Since child rearing and socialization processes differ between cultures, adult motivational patterns may reveal cultural differences as well as 20

differences attributed to the individual's unique hereditary and environmental factors. Motivation in business - Human performance depends both on ability and motivation. i.e. Performance = Ability x Motivation. Since it is possible to select and train individuals with the requisite ability, assuring performance requires maintaining adequate motivation. Concept of the "implicit bargain" - An essential part of management is the establishment of an implicit bargain with workers that states "If you give me your time and effort, I will give you what you desire." Limits to the bargain are imposed by economic, ethical, and legal considerations, of course, but the best bargain can be struck by management offering the worker what he/she desires most. Thus one worker may desire money, another prestige, another security, another recognition. Striking a bargain on an individual basis, sometimes known as the "Different strokes for different folks" theory is impractical if more than six or seven workers are to be motivated. Effective bargain making is dependent on the uncovering of a single approach to need satisfaction which can be offered to all workers. The search for the "common denominator of desire" is the driving force behind motivational research in business. Need theories in motivation - These theories suggest that human motivation is dependent on the satisfaction of needs, either rational or emotional. Knowledge of these needs provides management with information necessary to motivate. Rational need theories - are based primarily on the classical philosophy of Hedonism, rational need theories suggest that the mainspring of human activity is a self interested desire to seek comfort and pleasure and avoid discomfort and pain. The search for satisfaction arises out of conscious purpose. It is assumed that man is a rational being who knows what he wants and is responsible for his actions. The concept of economic man (man works to maximize wages and avoid getting fired) is at the base of almost all motivationally oriented mechanisms (wage policies, advancement policies, etc.) in the business world. The theory is attractive to business because it prescribes a single approach to motivation, the greater the economic reward, the greater the effort. The major liability of the theory is the evidence that man does not always act to maximize economic reward. Economic incentives appear to have a short term effect on influencing effort. Regardless of theoretical merit, this is the approach to motivation overwhelmingly adopted in practice! Expectancy theory - is a modification of the rational approach, proposed by Vroom, that assumes that workers are decision makers that choose among various courses of action by selecting the one that offers the greatest return. The choice is based on the attractiveness or valence of a particular outcome, the instrumentality or correlation between performance and outcome, and the expectancy or belief that a specific behavior will result in the outcome. When faced with the opportunity for a number of possible behaviors, the individual makes a rational choice. Management motivates workers by convincing them that a desired behavior will have a high expectation of resulting in a valued or high valence outcome. The theory is interesting but too complex for practical use. Little evidence supports such rational choice. Emotional or instinctive theories - suggest that behavior stems from inborn tendencies not always under the control of the individual. Man may not understand the causes of behavior. Instincts include such factors as search for security, sex, survival, and have been expanded to include emotional needs as well. The theory assumes that behavior is directed by unconscious drives manifested in terms of emotional promptings to action. The concept of emotional man assumes that man can be motivated by offering a social 21

environment which satisfies needs for "security", "love", "belongingness", etc. The basic problem in the use of these theories in business is the cataloging of social and instinctive needs and the manipulation of the work situation to maximize the worker's emotional return. The practical manifestation of the theory are social programs and benefits packages aimed at security, human relations, etc. Many management policies such as employee counseling, participative management, etc. are emotionally directed. The main liability of this approach is the inability to determine unconscious needs and provide suitable means of satisfying those needs. In addition, management tends to single out those emotional areas most convenient to satisfy rather than those relevant to deep seated needs. It is more likely to provide a health insurance program or sponsor a company picnic than permit worker participation in company planning or control of work activities. Often deficits in emotional satisfaction are paid for by higher economic rewards (combining two theories). Motivational hierarchy theories - assume that both physical and emotional needs are important in motivating behavior. Needs can be ranked on a scale and the most important needs must be satisfied before the others become influential. The individual must satisfy physical needs before social needs become important, social needs before egoistic needs become important. Needs may act in concert, any given behavior may result from the interaction of several needs. The most well known of the hierarchy theories was proposed by Maslow. He suggested that needs are ranked in order with physiological needs being the most basic, followed by safety, social, esteem, and self actualization needs. Physical and safety needs require constant external satisfaction and relate to economic or hedonistic theories of motivation. Social and egoistic needs tend to be self satisfying and are related to emotional need theories. Lower levels of need must be satisfied before higher levels become operative. The basic strategy of employing this theory is to find the need level relevant to the individual and attempt to develop a reward package to satisfy those needs, allowing for change as lower level needs are replaced by higher level needs over time. An alternative theory developed by Alderfer combines Maslow's 5 levels of need into three groups. These are existence needs (physical, safety), relatedness needs (social, and some esteem), and growth needs (esteem, self actualization). This has come to be known as the ERG theory. Two-factor motivational need theories - assume that the factors producing job satisfaction and motivation are separate and distinct from those producing job dissatisfaction. The opposite of job satisfaction is not dissatisfaction but is simply no job satisfaction. Individuals are motivated on the job by those factors which satisfy their egoistic and individualistic needs (achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, etc.). They are dissatisfied by factors which fail to satisfy social and security needs (company policy, salary, work conditions, relations with supervisors, etc.). Decreasing the dissatisfyers does not produce satisfaction, merely an absence of dissatisfaction. Satisfaction can be produced by restructuring the job to permit the worker to exercise greater responsibility, provide more opportunity for recognition and advancement, and provide opportunity for growth and learning. The most well known proponent of two-factor theory is Herzberg. It is a theory beloved by management practitioners because of its prescriptive nature. It tells a manager exactly what to do in a given situation. Although it may not always work, it relieves the anxiety of indecision. Balance theories of motivation - These theories attribute motivation to an effort to achieve balance between an individual's beliefs and his experiences in life. Any inconsistency between beliefs and experience cause tension which the individual attempts to resolve. The tension serves as the source of motivation which induces efforts to restore balance between beliefs and experience. The best known general balance theory is Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. It rarely stands alone as a 22

motivation theory but is used as an explanatory concept in other theories. Equity theory - as proposed by Adams, assumes that outcome and input in a work situation should be equitable. If an individual believes that he/she is appropriately compensated for the effort expended in a job, then the situation is equitable. If the person feels underpayed, a state of dissatisfaction occurs and the individual attempts to restore balance by improving the outcome/input ratio, either by trying to increase compensation or by reducing effort. If the person feels overpayed, the dissatisfaction is resolved by bringing effort into accord with pay or changing the belief to justify the pay. 13. JOB SATISFACTION Job satisfaction - Generally viewed as the overall attitude toward a job, composed of the individual attitudes that workers hold regarding various aspects of the work itself, work situation, supervisors, co-workers, company policy, etc. It is a subject of great interest to managers and behavioral scientists alike. Managers assume that a satisfied worker is productive and measures of satisfaction reflect the overall emotional health of an organization. Behavioral scientists, utilizing effective techniques for attitude measurement, treat job satisfaction as a fertile research area. Dimensions of job satisfaction - Locke classified various events or conditions (work and work related situations) and agents (people) that are considered relevant to job satisfaction. Workers develop attitudes about these aspects of the job. Events or conditions: 1.Work - nature of the work itself, its intrinsic interest, opportunity for learning, difficulty, amount, chances for success, control over work flow, etc. 2. Rewards - pay, promotion, recognition. 3. Context of work - working conditions including hours, equipment, environment, quality of work space, location; benefits, pensions, insurance, vacations, etc. Agents: 1. Self - values, skills, abilities. 2. Others in company - supervisors style and influence, technical skills, administrative skills; co-workers competence, friendliness, helpfulness, technical skill, etc. 3. Others outside company - customers; family members; others. Evaluation of job related attitudes - The composite attitude of job satisfaction is formed by evaluating individual attitudes about job dimensions. A variety of approaches to the evaluation process have been suggested. It is likely that any or all of them can be used. These are: Comparison processes - The individual compares his/her view of each dimension with that of other individuals on similar jobs. Pay, for example, is evaluated in comparison to how much someone else makes. Thus a ditch digger who makes $10 per hour is satisfied if the digger in the next ditch makes only $8 per hour, while a baseball player who makes three million a year is dissatisfied if another player with equivalent statistics 23

makes four million. Instrumentality theory - The individual judges each aspect of the job by how well it leads to valued outcomes. Thus if a job provides the opportunity for advancement it is considered good, regardless of how bad the conditions are in reality. The medical intern working 80 hour weeks values his/her position because it leads to a desirable life style as a high earning specialist. Conversely the worker in a dead end position may be dissatisfied in spite of good conditions. Social influence - The attitudes of others, either co-workers, family or friends influence the judgment of the job. If others are impressed, envious, etc. a job is likely to be judged desirable. There is a fairly stable popular opinion about the social influence and prestige of various jobs (Supreme Court Justice at the top, garbage man near the bottom) that is only roughly related to pay and working conditions. As an example, most corporate lawyers have an income many times that of a Federal Judge, yet most would accept a judgeship if it was offered because of the social influence and prestige. Job satisfaction and work behavior - There is little evidence that job satisfaction influences work behavior except in two areas. Turnover correlates negatively with satisfaction. Low satisfaction means high turnover since dissatisfied workers are likely to take the first opportunity to switch jobs. Absenteeism correlates with job satisfaction but the relationship is complex. Dissatisfied workers are likely to be absent a lot, but so are very satisfied workers. Indeed, the possibility of unpenalized absences may be a cause for job satisfaction. 14. LEADERSHIP Definition of leadership - Leaders are individuals who influence group members in task relevant activities. To exert this influence, a leader performs all or most of the following functions: planning group activities, coordinating group actions, directing behavior, allocating resources, and evaluating results. Individuals are leaders to the extent that they can actually influence the behavior of others. Popularly, the success or failure of an organization is attributed to its leader. Types of leaders - Leaders are classified according to the method by which they obtain their position. Nominal leaders - are leaders in name only. They obtain their position through a formal or traditional process but have little actual authority conferred on them by the organization. The Queen of England is a nominal leader, the figurehead of the British Empire. Nominal leaders can control the actions of others but they do so through influence and example since they cannot normally use the power of the organization to reward and punish behavior. Appointed leaders - achieve power through a formal process (election, appointment, succession) which places some or all of the control mechanisms of the organization in their hands. Examples are: the U.S. President, military officers, business CEOs, college professors. By using the power of the organization to reward or punish behavior, appointed leaders can influence behavior is a direct fashion. The strength of this control is largely a function of the invested power. Emergent leaders - are individuals who are perceived by followers as having leadership characteristics through force of personality, superior knowledge, and/or physical presence. Power of emergent leaders is a function of the belief of followers that their 24

personal well being depends on obeying the leader's requests. Examples are: religious and cult leaders (Joan of Arc), maverick political leaders (Adolph Hitler), leaders of street gangs, and occasional military leaders. After gaining sufficient strength, emergent leaders often consolidate their position by seizing control of organizational power and behave as appointed leaders. Leader effectiveness - Effectiveness is measured by assessing leader responsibility for the group achieving its objectives. Effectiveness is evaluated against a variety of criteria. Using a baseball manager as an example of an appointed leader, the following criteria would apply: Performance of work group - Objective measures of overall team success. Team standing in league. Judgment by superiors - Team owner thinks coach does an effective job regardless of won/lost record. Judgment by peers - Other managers in league asked for opinion. Voted "manager of year" by peers. Judgment by subordinates - Players judge on basis of leadership, fairness, resource allocation, etc. Research approaches to leadership - Several approaches to the study of leadership have been offered. Organizations are studied to determine formal relations of leaders and followers. The traits of leaders themselves are examined to isolate common factors. Behaviors characteristic of leaders are cataloged for use in training future leaders. Position or organizational theories - suggest that leadership resides in the position. Every organization has prescribed behaviors for incumbent leaders and for followers. The leader induces compliance by invoking the authority of the organization. Roles are thus defined by the structure of the organization. Research is directed toward the appropriate specification of leader and follower responsibility, defining the leadership position in such a way as to insure maximum organizational effectiveness. This approach assumes that leadership is insensitive to the characteristics of the individual occupying a specific position. It is the position which defines the behavior. Static and/or stable organizations have a vested interest in such theories since such organization outlive many changes in personnel. Specific examples are governmental and bureaucratic organizations, military organizations, formal religious organizations. Research on position and organizational theories is usually performed by political scientists and organizational theorists. Person and trait theories - suggest that personal characteristics or traits of the leader, regardless of how he/she achieves the position, induce followers to follow. Research efforts are directed to uncovering the traits effective in a leadership role. The approach assumes that a leader is "born" with specific traits, hence training efforts are considered fruitless and attention is directed toward selection. The person approach is currently unpopular in egalitarian societies since it smacks of elitism. It is often discouraged by social scientists and businessmen who have a vested interest in believing that leadership can be taught. To date, the research evidence on person and trait theories suggests a weak relationship between personal characteristics and leadership. Ghiselli and Campbell suggest that specific traits may appear in specific situations. Further, the true relationship may have been masked by an averaging effect since most studies pool leaders working in a variety of situations in defining traits. (i.e. like averaging the physical characteristics of jockeys, basketball players, and skeet shooters in a search for a typical athlete.) Research on trait theories is usually performed by developmental, clinical, and personnel psychologists whose professional focus is on the individual. 25

Process and behavioral theories - assume that leaders lead by effectively performing specific behaviors relating to task organization, personal relations, motivation, direction, and resource allocation. If these behaviors can be identified, they can be taught. The process approach suggests that the leader's role is one of situational diagnosis, followed by application of a learned appropriate behavior. The leader is, in effect, an actor playing the "role" of leader. It makes little difference if the individual is "born" to play the role or learns it through experience. (General Omar Bradley, who served with General George Patton in WW II, said that actor George C. Scott played a more impressive General Patton, in the movie "Patton", than the general was in real life.) Research is directed both toward situational diagnosis and identification of specific trainable behaviors. Most current efforts in leadership research follow the process approach. Behavioral theories are further divided into several groups: Behavior dimension theories - suggest that leaders can orient their behavior into employee centered or task centered dimensions. Most prominent of these theories is the one proposed by Fleishman and Hemphill. Based on a Leader Opinion Questionnaire, leader behavior was characterized as initiating structure (task oriented) or considerate (employee oriented). In the blue collar industries studied by Fleishman, considerate leaders proved the most effective. A similar approach, the Managerial Grid, was offered by Blake and Mouton. On this grid, managers were rated on a scale of 1 to 9 on both their concern for people and their concern for production. The best managers had high ratings on both scales. Situational moderator theories - place a heavy emphasis on diagnosis of the nature of the situation in specifying appropriate leader behaviors. Leaders must evaluate the needs and capabilities of their subordinates, the structure of the situation, and, in some theories, their own leadership style, in choosing a leadership strategy. Three influential theories of this type are: 1. Contingency theory offered by Fiedler defines the favorableness of a situation in terms of the leader-member relations, the task structure, and the leader position power (authority to enforce decisions). If all are high, the situation is deemed favorable, if low, unfavorable. Fiedler's research suggests that a task oriented leader outperforms a people oriented leader in very favorable or unfavorable situations, but is outperformed by the people oriented leader in average situations. 2. Distribution of decision making is held to be the most important aspect of leadership by Vroom and Yetton. A leader must choose a decision making strategy that produces both high quality decisions and generates motivation to work toward the chosen course of action. The theory offers guides to the diagnosis of work situations and recommends leadership strategies ranging from the authoritarian (boss centered) to the participative (subordinate centered). 3. The path-goal theory of House and Mitchell suggests that a leader must modify his/her behavior to suit the individual needs of subordinates. They identified four styles of leader behavior; directive, supportive, achievement oriented, and participative which influence subordinate motivation. The situation is defined by the leader's freedom to assign tasks and give rewards and by the subordinate's individual characteristics and needs. Leadership effectiveness involves matching the proper style with the task requirements and the individual needs of the subordinates so that the subordinates will be motivated to accomplish the group goals. Leadership theory and practice - Managers assigned the task of choosing or developing 26

leaders in their own organizations do not subscribe wholeheartedly to any of the above theories. In most instances potential leaders are selected from the pools of candidates who have exhibited leadership talents during their formative years. Biodata is scanned for election to school office, leadership in team sports, and participation in public exposure activities (debate, drama). The leadership area is narrowly defined (business, military, church) and the behaviors specific to success in those areas are studied for trainable components. The organization is configured to endow leaders with suitable position power to enforce their decisions, but the decisions themselves are limited by the narrow scope of the defined area. In this sense, leadership can be taught. In the broader social environment, however, the situational range is so great, the structure so imprecise, and the needs of potential subordinates so varied, that no general theory of leadership has proven effective. Leaders emerge, as they have always done, driven by internal forces that are yet unknown. 15. ERGONOMICS (HUMAN FACTORS) Ergonomics - is the sub-specialty of applied psychology that applies information about human behavior, abilities, limitations, and other characteristics to the design and use of tools, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments for productive, safe, comfortable, and effective human use. It has two major objectives. The first is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency with which work and other activities are carried out. Included would be convenience of use, reduced errors, and increased productivity. The second objective is to enhance desirable human values such as increased safety, reduced fatigue and stress, increased comfort, greater acceptance, increased job satisfaction, and improved quality of life. The terms "human factors" or "human engineering" are synonymous with ergonomics in the U. S. The systems concept - The basic concept of ergonomics is the human-machine system. Such a system is an interacting combination of people and machines, possibly connected by a network of communications, intended to accomplish a specific purpose. The purpose might be transportation, health care, air defense, education, business, etc. Most systems are adaptive using feedback of results to modify the relationship of humans and machines to improve performance. Typically systems get information or raw materials through an input subsystem; process the information (or raw materials); and output the processed information or materials. In the ergonomic sense, business can be considered a closed loop information and materials processing system whose primary purpose is to maximize profits. Human role in systems - Historically human-machine systems improved performance by emphasizing technology since labor intensive processes made use of a readily available labor supply of easily trainable quality. Humans were adapted to machines by selection and training. Current trends to increased automaticity and lessened human involvement are driven by efforts to reduce labor costs, increased system complexity requiring raised selection and training standards, decreased quality labor supply because of increased competitive opportunity, cost increasing regulations, foreign competition. Humans perform three basic roles (activities) in systems. These are: Executive role: Decision making function essential to allocation of system resources and administrative activities. Examples are analysis of data, alternative routings of communications or transport, design functions, management, medical diagnosis, writing a report. In the Executive role, the human decides upon a course of action to be taken. Research in this area explores ways in which humans interpret and process information and make decisions.

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Administrative role: Performs specific functions and controls equipment to accomplish desired ends. Examples are data input, vehicle control, computer operation, taking a temperature, typing a report. In the Administrative role, the human performs an act, generally physical or sensory in nature, which controls or assists the system in meeting its goals. Research in this areas studies best ways of presenting information to humans through displays and best ways of transmitting information from humans to machines through controls. Most "knob and dial" research in ergonomics is directed toward facilitating the administrative role. Support (maintenance) role: Maintenance of the system's readiness to function. Examples are the repair of equipments, supply of raw materials and resources, financing, personnel support. Unscheduled operations involving both decision and action directed toward system readiness. In the Support role, the human maintains the system's function. Research centers on strategies for diagnosis and identification of equipment (and human) malfunction. Allocation of system functions - Most systems tasks can be performed by people or by machines. The basic objective of function allocation is the optimization of system objectives while staying within the parameters of cost, efficiency, safety, availability, reliability, set by the environment within which the system must operate. Some function allocations are set by policy, i.e.only the doctor can prescribe drugs, some by the unavailability of hardware for specific tasks, i.e. no reasonably priced computer can interpret human speech. Machines and humans differ in capabilities as follows: Human superiority: (areas in which humans outperform machines) Sensation of low levels of stimuli, vision, taste, complex sound within human spectral limits. Pattern recognition including vision and speech interpretation. Detection of stimuli in noise. Storage of large amounts of imprecise nformation in a small volume. Recall of pertinent information. Utilize experience in decision making. Unprogrammed action in emergencies. Reason inductively, generalizing from observations. Solve novel problems. Think creatively. Adapt physical response to wide variations in operational requirements. Maintain mobility in rugged terrain. Reliable performance for long periods. (But poor monitoring behavior.) Machine superiority: (areas in which machines outperform humans) Wide sensory spectral range. Rapid response to input signals. Measure sensation with extreme accuracy. Reason deductively. Logical decision making. (But poor at subjective evaluations and estimates.) Monitor prespecified events. (Cannot deal with unspecified events.) Perform multiple activities simultaneously. Store and retrieve coded information in large quantities. Process data accurately. Exert considerable physical force in controlled manner. Perform repetitive activities reliability. Fatigue resistant. Survive in extreme environments if properly designed. Maintain unvarying performance over time. 28

Human/machine trade-offs: The decision between fully automatic, mixed, and manual allocation depends on: Capabilities - sophistication of equipment, human abilities, available personnel, training time, etc. Cost - relative equipment and labor costs, cost of capital, accounting methods, etc. Convenience - surplus capacity of equipment or personnel, design effort, use of available facilities, etc. Constraints - legal requirements, union contracts, social requirements, safety, environment, etc. Social values - worker job satisfaction, psychological needs, ethical standards, prestige, etc. Considerations in system design - The successful design of equipment for human use requires consideration of mobility and muscle strength, sensory capabilities, intellectual abilities, training requirements, body dimensions, and the effects of the working environment on overall performance. At first approximation, it is useful to think of the human as another system component, with specific limits and capabilities, subject to environmental stress and overload. By designing the human-machine system within the limits of this component, we can assure overall system effectiveness. Design takes place in three distinct phases: Study phase: Establishment of system requirements and constraints. 1. Determine job which human-machine system must perform. 2. Determine the overall requirements and restrictions to which the design must conform. 3. Determine the operating conditions of the human-machine system. 4. Establish the relationships between the new design and existing equipments. 5. Specify the functions which must be performed by the human-machine system. Design phase: Choose an approach to human-machine system design. 6. Allocate functions between human and machine. 7. Establish performance requirements for system operation. 8. Specify required controls and displays for transmitting information between human and machine. 9. Lay out the operator's work space and working environment. 10.Prepare operating procedures and associated training materials. Evaluation phase: Compare results of design effort with constraints and requirements. 11.Evaluate operator performance on a prototype of the system and redesign if necessary. Aids to human-machine system design and evaluation - Accurate and precise information exists about human body dimensions, physical strength, sensory capability, intelligence, and other measurable aspects of human performance. From this data, handbooks have been prepared describing appropriate controls, displays, and environmental conditions necessary to assure best performance under a variety of 29

conditions. The factors to be considered in equipment design are: 1. The type, speed and accuracy of required operator performance. 2. The frequency and extent of use of each individual display and control. 3. The criticality of each display and control with respect to equipment function. 4. The sequence of control use. 5. The standardization requirements for minimum maintenance costs and maximum flexibility of use. 6. Allowable system down time for repair and maintenance. 7. Number and type of personnel using the equipment. 8. Physical size, strength, and other characteristics of expected operators. 9. Safety. OSHA requirements. 10. Environmental control. 11. Cost and scheduling. Ergonomics and human error - Human error has been established as the major cause of system failure and/or accidents. Human error is any deviation from a previously established, required, or expected standard of human performance that results in an unwanted state of events (time delay, difficulty, problem, incident, malfunction, accident, or failure). Payne and Altman (1962) proposed that errors be characterized in terms of the "behavioral components" that reflect the basic types of human behavior that generates them. Input behaviors are errors of sensory or perceptual input. Mediation behaviors are decision or information processing errors, including lack of information or training. Output errors are errors in making physical responses. The input-mediationoutput model of this classification system corresponds to a common sequence of psychological functions that are basic to all behavior. Human error occurs when any element in this chain of events is broken such as failure to perceive a stimulus, inability to discriminate among various stimuli, misinterpretation of the meaning of stimuli, not knowing what response to make to a particular stimulus, physical inability to make a required response, and responding out of sequence. Identifying the source of errors in terms of the input-mediation-output behaviors permits direct access to the literature of human performance. Situational and individual variables - It is frequently difficult to isolate the real causes of specific errors even though the actual behaviors have been observed. It is reasonable to hypothesize that all errors should be attributed to either situational variables, individual variables, or a combination of both. Broadly speaking, situational variables can be lumped into categories involving task characteristics, equipment characteristics, organizational structure and procedures, and environment. They are, to a large extent, specific to each situation, but in general they may be related to the assigned duties, equipment used, time of the day, work conditions, ambient environment, etc. Individual variables involve age, perceptual skills, intelligence, physical skills, health, education, experience, personality, and aptitudes. Both types of variables mediate human performance. The situational variables provide a framework within which the individual variables operate. In effect both sets of variables influence the probabilities of successful or faulty performance. 16. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Background of Safety Movement - Industrial safety pre-1900's was almost nonexistent. There were no workman's compensation laws, most accidents being handled under "common law". Injured employees had to sue for recompense. No compensation was available if the accident had any employee contribution. Since the employee knew the 30

hazards before injury, there was no employer negligence. In USA, Wisconsin passed first no fault workman's comp. law in 1911. The Canadian Workman's Compensation Act (1914) followed. The USSR adopted Labor Protection articles in their Constitution (1921). Mgt. decisions to minimize payments by reducing accidents led to the organized industrial safety movement. The death rate dropped by 31% from 1912 to 1933 as a result of industry efforts. H.W. Heinrich's book "Industrial Accident Prevention" (1931) suggested that the bulk of accidents are human caused. It changed the emphasis from engineering to human related solutions. Accidents/million hours dropped from 15.2 in 1931 to 6.87 in 1980. The rate has been asymptotic since 1960, indicating that present approaches to accident resuction have reached the point of diminishing returns. Research emphasis on "objective" aspects of accident - Research on physical hazard minimization, injury attenuation, proper work procedures, etc. has been the response to legislative prompting, e.g. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970; USSR Basic Principles of Labor Law, 1921; British Industrial Health Act, 1933; Indian Factories Act, 1948. Declining payoff of objective component research shifted emphasis from situational (workplace) to individual (worker) characteristics, subjective and attitudinal areas (personality, risk tolerant behavior, perceived reward policy), personal history factors. Studies of Mgt. safety policy and its implementation are increasing. Accident Statistics and Costs - Accidents have been called the "twentieth century disease". They are the leading cause of death in developed countries between ages of 1 and 30. They are also the leading cause of military casualty (i.e. more accident casualties than combat casualties). Most accident statistics define a ratio (injuries per period of exposure), but the definition of injury is imprecise. Injuries have been defined as any injury, any lost time injury, an injury with > 24 hr. lost time, an indury with > 72 hour lost time, hospitalization, or death. Periods of exposure are similarly loosely defined. They may be man-hours worked, 1,000,000 man-hours worked, man-years worked, 100,000 man-years worked, etc. Transportation accidents utilize hours of exposure, distance travelled, etc. Often used statistics are: Frequency rate = disabling injuries x 1,000,000 / employee hours worked. Severity rate = days lost x 1,000,000 / employee hours worked. Average lost time = Severity rate / Frequency rate. Definition of Accidents - The dictionary definition is an "event without apparent cause, unexpected event, unintentional act, chance mishap". Most definitions contain elements of unpredictability or undesirability. Operational definition - "An accident may be defined as that class of events which involves low level of expectedness, avoidability, and intention. Accidents possess high unexpectedness, low avoidability, low intention." Suchman (1961) Generally we define as accidents only events of above class which result in physical injury to persons or property. Common usage lumps situations in which intentional or negligent acts cause harm in the class of accidents (although courts may find differently). Concept of "cause" - Cause is a legal rather than scientific concept, essential for attributing blame or damages. Hume (1739) stated "We are never able, in a single instance, to discover any power or necessary connection, any quality to bind the effect to the cause and render one an infallible consequence of the other. We only find that one does actually, in fact, follow the other." Causation implies high probability of events occurring in specific sequence, i.e. "smoking gun" theory. Typical concept of accident (Heinrich axiom) "The occurrence of an injury invariably results from a sequence of 31

factors, the last being the accident itself. The accident is in turn invariably caused or permitted directly by the unsafe act of a person and/or a mechanical or physical hazard." Accident investigators and boards of inquiry search for "proximate" causes, the last identifiable event before the accident, in order to establish culpability. Common Accident Measures - Data is required for accounting of accidents, investigating accident antecedents, accident prevention programs, cost allocation, research. Typical measures are: (in declining order of reliability) Official statistics - Fatalities, disability, medical care, clinic visits, lost time (all post accident measures). Unofficial statistics - Mishaps, unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, errors, critical incidents (all "accident like" events) Accident Research Techniques: Statistical approach: data analysis of official records. Examples: OSHA reports, BLS Accident reports, Nat. Safety Council, ILO reports, Norske Veritas safety reports, etc. Epidemiological approach: Research team makes detailed medical and psychological investigation of each incident. Associated variables in subject and environment studied for relation to accidents. Examples: FAA accident investigations, Marine accident investigations. Laboratory-field experiment: precise study of accident related hypotheses under controlled conditions. Practical limit restricts studies. i.e. no injury or excessive costs. Examples: Crash testing of automobiles, overload testing of industrial equipment. Inappropriate experimentation can lead to disaster (e.g. Chernobyl). Occupational simulation: "model" developed of industrial system with specific preaccident conditions applied to predict future consequences. Simulation can be mathematical, a laboratory mockup, or a combination. Example: Driving simulation, Grenoble tanker simulation, aviation and space flight simulation.

Conceptual Models and Theories of the Accident Process Descriptive Models Chain of events: temporal sequence of events which culminate in injury or accident. Heinrich (1931), Ramsey (1978), Thorndike (1951). Each accident has a different causal chain, the only common element being the undesirable injury or damage. Antecedent events are usually common and ordinarily do not lead to accident, however some particular combination turns a safe act into an unsafe act. Inherent assumption of many factors influencing accidents. No single key or "cause" other than common human factor. Accident = f(X1, X2, X3 . . .Xn). Epidemiological model: Attempt to systemize chain of events model using epidemiological techniques of looking for common elements of "host" (accident victim), "agent" (injury source), and "environment" (workplace and procedures). Gordon (1949), McFarland (1965) Statistical analysis and interview techniques to determine attributes of factors. Quite useful for study and classification of transportation accidents and industrial accidents; but, not too helpful in analysing "why" accidents happen.

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Behavioral models - Behavioral models focus attention on particular aspects of the human, and as such are useful, but to achieve a full understanding of the accident process, they must be used in conjunction with a more global approach. Some behavioral models proposed are: Human error model: Theory proposes that most accidents can be traced to an erroneous human act. Peters (1962) operationally defines human error as any deviation from a required standard of human performance that results in an unwanted state of events (delay, malfunction, difficulty, accident, etc.). Several workers classify human behaviors in terms of input components, mediation components, and output components and suggest that the omission, insertion, sequencing, and quality of performance of these behaviors are accident antecedent factors. Rook (1962), Payne and Altman (1962). The model is useful primarily because psychological literature is organized in the way proposed. Accident investigations rarely present information which can be analysed in terms of specific and discrete human acts. Decision models: Model proposes that most accidents result from faulty decisions rather than failures in perception or action. In every sequence of events leading to an accident, the individual must make a series of decisions about perceptions, actions, and the consequences of those actions. Whenever a decision must be made in the presence of danger a degree of risk enters. Factors affecting risk are the amount of uncertainty of outcome and the absolute danger of the situation. The theory suggests that different persons at different times will take higher risks and be more liable to accidents. Risk taking has been shown to be a significant factor in industrial accidents. By appropriate personnel selection, training, and behavior modification techniques, accidents may be reduced. Fell (1976), Zeitlin (1976), Christensen (1980) Accident Proneness model: proposes a group of persons possess a personal idiosyncrasy of relativeness permanence predisposing the individual to a greater rate of accidents. Some statistical evidence to support. Weak explanatory concept which cannot account for majority of accidents. Farmer and Chambers (1926), McCormick and Tiffen (1974) "Systems" models- Systems models treat the human element, equipment, environment, and sometimes even management policy as interrelated elements of a man-machine system. Accidents are viewed as "extreme value" outputs. Each part of the system affects the performance of the other, the human in the system being treated as a complex and poorly understood part. System theory's great advantage is that it permits powerful mathematical tools to be used in predicting system state from given sets of inputs. Concepts of feedback from system output to input to change system response parameters are incorporated. Systems components can be overloaded by excessive response demands. Concepts of human information processing overload, response lag, distribution of errors, etc. are easily handled in a systems theory. The theory recognizes the interaction and feedback involved in the complex accident process and also recognizes the probabilistic nature of the chain of events resulting in an accident. The liability of this approach is that it requires physical definition of all parts of the system and their interactions, definitions which are not, and may never be possible, in the life sciences. Since humans are the least understood component, systems theories rarely consider human behavior in all of its complexity. Attractive theory for engineers, whose response to above problem is to design humans out of the system, whether appropriate or not. 17. WORKPLACE SAFETY Nature of workplace safety - Workplace safety can be defined as the probability that a workplace is free from unexpected agents that can cause harm to a trained worker 33

carrying out the proper functions of his/her job. Few workplace accidents are really "accidents" in the sense of being chance events. They consist of that large class of events with low predictability and controllability and having undesirable consequences. Increasing workplace safety requires the reduction of uncertainty and the prediction and control of all phases of activity. Precautions can be taken to minimize the dangers of undesirable situations that can be predicted. Experience points to three areas in which common remediable factors may be found. These are: hazardous work activities or equipment, the physical environment, and worker characteristics. Reduction of equipment hazards - The sequence of priorities in reducing equipment hazards is: Elimination of injury producing agents: When possible the equipment should be reengineered to eliminate the portion that can cause injury. Sharp edges should be rounded, protruding parts depressed, external rotating machinery eliminated. The ultimate goal is to design workplace equipment that can cause no harm to workers of minimal training. Guard injury producing agents: All injury producing agents that cannot be eliminated should be equipped with guards that prevent users from inadvertent contact. Saw blades should be shielded, moving belts covered, etc. The equipment should be designed that it will not work if the guards are removed or the operator is using it improperly. Warning of danger: Operators should be warned of hazards that cannot be eliminated or guarded against. Warning of injury or life threatening dangers should be prominently displayed on the equipment. Directions for safe use should be similarly displayed and included in operating instructions. Warning levels are danger, implying high probability of death or injury; warning, implying significant probability of injury or damage; and caution, implying some hazard in use. Environmental hazards - A high percentage of industrial injuries arise from work in hazardous environments. Indeed, the most frequent injury on many jobs is falls from high places. Human performance decreases as conditions deviate from the ideal "shirtsleeve" environment, although it is possible for an individual to gain some degree of acclimatization to extremes after several weeks of exposure. Cold is easier to deal with since protective clothing can permit activity to -40° F. The main effect of cold is to decrease manual sensitivity and dexterity. The performance decrement at -30° F is 20%, at -40° F is 80%. High temperature is more troublesome. The maximum temperature at which heavy physical work is unimpaired is 80° F. Efficiency approaches 0% when the temperature exceeds 110° F. Both strength and precision essential to safety are likely to be decreased when temperature extremes deviate from normal. Fatigue increased quickly. Where it is not possible to modify extreme environmental conditions, it may be possible to manage the work force to achieve a reasonable degree of effectiveness by: Selection of personnel who have a high tolerance for the specific working conditions; Acclimatization before requiring full effort; Work schedule modification to minimize the effect of physical stress; Procedure modification to minimize requirements for continuous high level human performance; Assessment of worker physical well being on a regular basis to identify hazard likely conditions. Worker characteristics - Worker physical characteristics, training, experience, and attitudinal factors interact with the stresses of the environment to result in less than optimum performance of assigned tasks. When sufficient deterioration occurs in the 34

presence of a potentially dangerous situation, an accident occurs. Physical characteristics: Worker physical capabilities which influence safety are job specific. They include sensory capability, strength, dexterity, size and weight, intelligence, etc. By and large, if a worker is capable of doing the job in the first place, he/she is capable of doing it safely. If physical performance deteriorates through age, illness or substance use, response to an unexpected hazardous situation may be ineffective in preventing accidents. Regular assessment is needed. Training: Training which emphasizes workplace safety has been shown effective in minimizing accidents as long as safe work procedures are reinforced by supervisors. Generally worker safety training is introduced following a serious accident. Experience: Studies have shown that nearly three quarters of all injuries have occurred to workers with less than one year on the job and over half during the first six months. Turnover is generally highest among this group. Special attention should be paid to the safety orientation of new workers until their skill level is sufficient to cope with the hazards of the workplace. A parallel finding shows that most automobile accidents occur to drivers within the first few years of licensing. Attitude: There are wide variations in personal acceptance of risk. Significant difference occur between young and old, men and women. A recent study showed the men are twice as likely to assume a high risk level, enjoying the sensation of danger, as are women. Folklore has often defined people in terms of "courage" placing a high premium on deliberate acceptance of danger. These theme are often instilled in children through stories and TV and manifest themselves in adult behavior. Tolerance of risk acceptance differs by industry, some defining themselves as particularly suitable for "heroic" individuals (i.e. aviation, construction). Risk tolerance can be estimated by psychological tests or by examination of biodata. Caution should be used in placing high risk tolerant persons in situations where accidents will be catastrophic. Motivational approaches to accident reduction - Motivational approaches suggest that the worker must be motivated to behave safely and must perceive the rationale behind risk avoidant behavior in the workplace. The approach tries to get workers to identify unsafe behaviors and to suggest safer solutions. Safety is put on a competitive basis and rewards, immediate and direct are offered for accident free periods. Feedback and reinforcement are provided whenever possible to encourage safety. The technique is effective and positive but very fragile. It requires almost constant attention from supervisors. The accident rate rises almost to former levels if the attention lapses. Further, maximization of safety often conflicts with maximization of productivity and company enthusiasm for safety programs is likely to be mixed. Screening and selection of personnel - The concept of accident proneness has lost favor in recent years, but it is a fact that some workers simply have more accidents than others. While plain bad luck may be a factor for some, for many of the others there exists a combination of physical characteristics, personality, attitude, etc. which makes accidents more likely. Identification of these workers can reduce workplace accidents by excluding them from potentially hazardous job situations or retraining them to exhibit safer patterns of behavior in dangerous situations. The practical difficulty in screening and selection of personnel is the maintenance of safety records across industry. Without such records, individuals cannot be identified nor can a new employer be apprised of their accident likely behavior. However the technique has proven cost effective where common insurance carriers maintain such records for specific industries (maritime industry, oil exploration) and are willing to share their experience with employers. 35